My Prince Charming
by seashellsandskittles
Summary: I know...another story about Annabeth at Goode with Percy. But let me just say it's worth reading! 'I had Iris Messenged her while she was having dinner with her stepmom and brothers. It was my first glimpse of her in months, but I only saw about one second of her very shocked expression before she proceeded to frantically swing her arm through my face...'
1. 1 First Second Year

**Hi! This is my first Percy Jackson story. It will probably only be updated every once in a while. Anyways, please read and review! I want to know if it is worth continuing! Thanks**

**-Cover Image from nohongo on DeviantArt**

**All rights go to Rick Riordan because he is our god XD**

**-Fixed some consistency issues 3/30/14**

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**Percy**

The first day of my second year of high school- I walked into Goode High School feeling good. It was the first time I had ever stayed at a school two consecutive years. Maybe it wasn't my biggest accomplishment, but I guess you could say I was proud. I greeted Chris, Sean, Gavin, Logan, Amber, Lauren, and Olivia at the front door of Goode High School for our Sophomore Year. For a while, I listened to everyone talk about summer vacations. I joked, "I saved the world." They laughed, but had no idea how true it was.

We talked for a while, but I just zoned out and thought about the extremely awkward Iris Message I had with Annabeth last night. I called her while she was having dinner with her stepmom and brothers. It was my first glimpse of her in months, but I only saw about one second of her very shocked face before she proceeded to frantically swing her arm through my face, thus ending our extremely long conversation. I hadn't talked to her in what seemed like forever, because we were out in the real world now and couldn't use cell phones. And I hadn't Iris Messenged her since, afraid that I might IM her while she was in the shower (I wouldn't mind that, but she would probably find someway to kill me from across the country, which would be a very bad thing). I kept forgetting about our four hour time difference so situations like those were very likely to happen.

A voice saying "Percy... Percy... PERCY!" snapped me out of it. It was Amber, "We're going inside now," she stated.

I replied, "Oh...yeah, sorry."

Gavin seemed amused by my apparent stupidity. I just smiled sheepishly and began to walk towards the rest of my friends.

I went to my locker, 482, which was fairly close to my friends'. I felt around my backpack for the picture of Annabeth and me on the beach at Camp Half-Blood. I found it and looked at it longingly for a moment. Annabeth was on my back kissing my cheek and I was smiling at the camera. Rachel had taken it for us. I heard someone walking towards me and I fumbled with the picture, frantically trying to flip it over.

A beautiful, long-limbed, raven-haired girl with freckles snatched it out of my hands. It was Olivia Reese. She was my first friend here other than Rachel Dare who transferred to a girls finishing school, because of a promise she had made to her dad. She looked at it curiously and said,

"Is that your girlfriend?" with a curious face.

I smiled a little and nodded as I thought about her for the millionth time today.

"Bet it's photoshopped." She winked at me and I couldn't tell if she was kidding or not.

Last year I tried to convince Olivia and all of my friends that I didn't want to date anyone because I had a girlfriend, but they all assumed I was lying and was just too afraid to date. I guessed you could say I was well liked at this school. I'm not one of the stereotypical 'jock types' (at least I hope not). That was Marcus and his little group of football players. They're nice to you- when they want something out of you. I didn't even notice all the girls staring at me until my friends had pointed it out to me last year. In fact, I usually don't even realize they like me until the seconds before they ask me out and I turn them down. Even now, I just pretended to not see them. My heart ached for Annabeth. I just hoped, all the way across the country, she was feeling the same way.

"Lemme see your schedule," I said to Olivia. She gave hers to me and I stared at the jumble of words my dyslexic brain couldn't possibly make sense of. Then I decided that trying to make sense of them was a horrible idea and handed both mine and her schedules back. "Uhhh... maybe you better read them."

She handed the schedule back to me, along with the picture, looking unsatisfied. We didn't have any classes together, except for lunch. I looked at her disappointedly. She took her schedule back and went back to her locker. I turned the picture around for the real reason I needed it; I had written my locker combination on the back of it. I looked at it, untidily scrawled 14-22-05 and opened my locker. I threw my books in and smiled as I thought _I don't have to worry about Annabeth yelling at me to clean my locker, at least._

When I slammed my locker shut, the football team walked by in their little pack and Marcus, the quarterback, slammed me into the lockers with his shoulder. I glared at him and couldn't resist the urge to punch him. I was inches from his nose when a Korean guy with glasses grabbed my wrist and held me back. Chris, I thought as his face registered in my ADHD brain.

"Calm down, man," Chris commanded.

I glared at him. I gained my composure only slightly after he said, "It's not worth it." I grabbed my stuff and stormed away, fuming. I had had enough with jerks after the Titan War. Last year, Marcus, his trusty sidekick (this kid whose name started with A), and their goons seemed to live for making my life difficult. They hated me for taking the spotlight away from them. I had won the Goode High School Swim team first place, the first time Goode had won first in any athletics event (other than girls volleyball) in 8 years. The football team had lost in the playoffs game and they were all taking it out on me, with the leadership of Marcus.

Looking at my schedule clearly for the first time, I tried to decipher the words. Olivia had only told me what classes we didn't have together, not my complete schedule. And now, not only was I frustrated from the almost fight with Marcus, but I had to spend time trying to read my schedule because of my stupid dyslexia. I didn't even bother with the intro because the font was like dyslexic kryptonite, although because of some miracle, I managed to decipher the first word during homeroom. I saw it as something like qIziEhn, which I realized after a minute of hard concentration was English, and walked off to Mrs. Jacobsen's class.

I saw Chris, along with Lauren and Gavin in there, who beckoned me over.

"Hey, sorry about that earlier," I said to Chris.

"It's fine. It happens," and it was like nothing ever happened that morning. Chris was easy-going and cool and made friends easily. Everybody liked him because he was hilarious and smart.

I struggled through English and got the usual 'Do you need any extra help?' From the teacher once she saw I had ADHD and Dyslexia.

I figured out science in the middle of English class and breezed through Marine Biology, with Mr. Ganse not hating me. Finally, I figured out my schedule in third period when Gavin explained it to me:

**Homeroom**

Room C70

Davis, Katherine

7:30

**English**

Room D25

Jacobsen, Susan

7:45

**Science (Marine**  
**Biology)**

Room S15

Ganse, Cameron

8:40

**Greek**

Room C42

Parks, Daniel

9:50

**Math**

Room D54

Blair, Jennifer

11:15

**Lunch**

**Gym**

Room gymnasium

Parson, David

1:00

**Elective- None**

(Permitted to  
use pool during this period)

Room pool

O'Connell, Jonathan

1:55

**History**

Blofis, Paul

Room C76

2:40

**Dismissal**

3:30

After Marine Biology, I felt great and made a great impression on my Greek teacher, Mr. Parks. I walk into his classroom and he introduced himself and said "We're going to take a pretest, just to see what you guys know." Everybody groaned, but I smiled silently to myself. This class was going to be a piece of cake...I wanted some cake...preferably blue cake…What are we doing again? I looked down and there was a test in front of me. Guess I better get started. I finished easily and walked up to Mr. Park. He asked, "Do you have a question or something?"

"No, I'm finished,"

He looked at me suprisedly as if he weren't expecting anyone to finish so quickly and glanced over my pretest. "Is Greek your first language Percy?"

"No, I started learning it when I was 12 at summer camp, but it just kind of came easily to me," It was sort of true.

"Wow! It took me seven years to learn Greek fluently. Impressive Percy."

"Thanks Mr. Park," I said awkwardly and went to go sit down. At least he liked me.

Math was so boring I slept through half of it. Ms. Blair was like a robot and talked in the meanest, loudest voice I have ever heard.

After gym, I thought I would die from boredom and bolted straight to the pool. During my elective period, if you did a sport you were allowed to go practice. I changed into my swim trunks and dived to the bottom of the pooI. I sat there for a while before people began swimming laps. The cold, refreshing water invigorated me immediately. I began swimming laps and greeting the new freshman. Tryouts were after school today anyways. The freshman might be some of the best on the team. I also saw Chris, Gavin, and Amber. There were a couple people trying out for captain. Most of them swam pretty well. I was just worried about this guy named Derek, one of Marcus's followers. I was pretty sure he's just here to make sure I have a terrible life.

I was the hero on the swim team last year. Of course, it helped that I had super Poseidon fish-powers, but I had to remember to tone them down a little since I had accidentally swam a third of the world record at practice once.

Paul's class was interesting and fun, considering we were studying mythology. I didn't really focus though, because the books were in English and well, reading and I don't make a great couple.

Finally it was time for swim tryouts. It had seemed like what little that was left of Kronos was slowing down time just to annoy me. I jumped in the pool and said hi to Coach Jon as he walked in with his clipboard. "People who want to try out over here!" He shouted loudly. A fairly large group of 10 or so freshman walked over looking nervous. The top 5 made the team, but. really caught my eye, because he swam almost 30 seconds ahead of the others. He might be as good as some of the captains.

Now it was my turn. Captains had to swim a 400IM; butterfly, backstroke, breast stroke, free. I climbed on the starting block and waited for the gun to fire a blank. I let my instincts take over and dived off the block. I felt myself shooting through the water like the bullet that could've been in the gun and was already at the other wall when I reminded myself to slow down. When I looked back, I was a full lap ahead of everybody else. I willed the water not to push me forward and used only my arm strength to swim. I still had a solid lead, but not enough to make anybody scream in shock. I noticed Chris, Gavin, and Amber cheering me on.

I touched the final wall and won slightly and found Derek didn't even make the team. Gavin told me he knew I would win all along. I told him thanks and when I went to shake his hand, pulled him into the pool, soaking his shirt and his usually spiked up blond hair was pressed to his head. Everybody laughed. I willed myself to be dripping wet and climbed out of the pool. Now I just wanted to tell Annabeth.


	2. 2 Reunited

**Hi! Please read and review! Thanks!**

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**Annabeth**  
San Francisco sucked. Well, I guess it was fun for the first week or so, when my dad was actually around. We had gotten much closer over time and he invited me to stay. But Helen, my stepmother dreaded having me around and my two little stepbrothers were obnoxious as always. It was like a wierd mixed up Cinderella story. I just needed my prince charming. School had only started for a week, and it was okay, I guess, but I found myself missing everything about New York; the subway, Sally and Paul, Camp Half-Blood, the Empire State, and most of all Percy. Although I did feel bad for not trying harder to make things work, I decided to go back to New York. I let my father know before I left again, and this time we parted on good terms. My stepmother, however, was overjoyed to see me go.

I had ambivalent feelings as the plane flew east towards New York City, but once I saw the lights and the Empire State, I knew I was home. Knowing Percy was somewhere down there helped too. With the little bags I had, I checked into The Hampton Inn, called my father and Sally (to let her know I arrived), bolted my door shut, and crashed on my bed for the night.

I walked into Goode High School the next day and felt everybodys' eyes on me. I saw many of the guys staring at me. A boy with a crew cut, messy blonde hair, long eyelashes, and beautiful hazel eyes walked towards me. "I'm Aiden. Are you new?"  
"Yeah," I smiled.  
"I could show you around if you want."  
I told him, "Thanks, but I should be ok." He was obviously flirting with me...and judging by the way the rest of the guys were looking at me, the only one brave enough (or stupid enough) to do so. His ego was too big for his tiny head, I figured. I walked into the main office of Goode High School. "Hi! I'm Annabeth Chase, I'm a new student here." Patty, her name was, typed something into the computer and handed me some papers without even looking up.  
Before I left the office, a very naturally beautiful girl, with only a little makeup on, wavy light brown hair and baby blue eyes, introduced herself to me. "Hi, I'm Lauren. I'll be showing you around today."  
"Thanks," I said gratefully, "I'll need it."  
"Your locker is over there," Lauren pointed in the general direction of my locker, #483. "Let me see your schedule."  
I struggled to read it and squinted. It looked like a jumble of letters to me, so I handed it to Lauren.  
_**Homeroom**__  
Room C70  
Davis, Katherine  
7:30  
__**English**__  
Room D25  
Jacobsen, Susan  
7:45  
__**Math (Geometry)**__  
Room D68  
Blair, Jennifer  
8:40  
__**Latin**__  
Room C52  
Padilecki, Thomas  
9:50  
__**Gym**__  
Room gymnasium  
Parson, David  
11:15  
__**Lunch  
Science (Chemistry)**__  
Room S35  
Diaz, Alexander  
1:00  
__**Elective- Architecture**__  
Room E27  
Brennan, Lorelai 1:55_

_**History**__  
Blofis, Paul  
Room C76  
2:40  
__**Dismissal**__  
3:30_

She said happily, "Hey, we have the same schedule other than science and math!"  
I smiled. Maybe I would make a new friend.  
Lauren began explaining to me how things worked, but I craned my head around looking for Percy. Then I saw Lauren raise her eyebrows as she looked more closely at my schedule. She looked up and slowly smiled at me. "People will be wanting to pay you for that locker!"  
I looked at her questioningly. 'Why?'  
"Your locker is right next to Percy's!" She said it as if it were a duh statement.  
"Percy who?" This was fun.  
"He's my friend...but every other girl in the school has a massive crush on him. He's the most popular guy in school, and the best by far on the school swim team. Unfortunately, having a locker by him won't do you any good. He's claims he has this top secret girlfriend in California, but I'm pretty sure she's fake." I nearly burst out laughing. And his loyalty was always one of my many favorite things about him.  
I pushed Lauren away from the topic, thinking that if she mentioned anything more about my perfect boyfriend, my heart would beat right out of my chest. Lauren and I sat on a bench near my locker, after I put all my books away. She mentioned her friends (minus Percy) and we talked about our families and lives. We probably would have continued talking if he hadn't walked in.  
"Here's Percy," I faintly heard from Lauren, even though she had said it at a normal volume.  
My vision tunneled. He was an attractive guy, with gorgeous sea green eyes, a six pack, and perfectly tanned skin. Percy Jackson was even more attractive than I had remembered him. Even the way he carried himself, Percy emanated confidence but not cockiness. His funny, ridiculous personality made him many friends. I immediately knew he was the most popular guy at school, but he didn't seem to make a big deal out of it. He seemed to be oblivious to all of it. Already, I could see many of the girls swooning for Percy Jackson, my boyfriend. But to Percy, none of them seemed to exist at all. I smiled to myself. Surrounded by his friends, and being stared at by almost everybody in the school, Percy looked extremely happy. I wondered if he would want me here, possibly ruining all of it, and then I pushed the thought out of my mind before it could form again.  
He was right next to me now. I could feel his body warmth. His messy, black hair was two inches from my face. I desperately wanted to just kiss him, but my body refused to do so. I saw him opening his locker, carelessly throwing stuff in. Gods I would have to help him clean it later. It took all my effort to stand there and not wrap my arms around him. With a nervous, but incredible feeling in my gut, I stood up off the bench and lightly covered his eyes with my hands, which were now shaking uncontrollably. "Hey," I said softly. The whole school was staring now, including Lauren. I could feel their eyes glued to me and Percy, wondering what the crazy new girl was doing to the most popular guy in school. Percy grabbed my hands and lightly removed them from his face, as if he already knew who it was. He turned around slowly and his eyes widened in disbelief. He hugged me. His muscles would have crushed the air out of me, except I had stopped breathing the moment I saw him. I wrapped my arms around him and buried my face in his neck. His arms were strong and steady and so sure of themselves.  
We untangled ourselves from each other and I looked into his mesmerizing sea green eyes for the first time in months. They shone with excitement and wonder. I studied his face; he looked leaner and more muscular, and his dark hair was swept to one side, like he'd just come from a walk on the beach. He gave me that quirky, sarcastic smile that used to make me roll my eyes, but was now very endearing. Flashbacks attacked my eyes with every blink. I thought back to every fight and laugh, and every late night walk on the beach we had ever shared. I barely heard him whisper, "Are you really here?"  
Before I could answer, his lips were on mine and we were kissing. His lips were salty and he smelled like ocean air. Seaweed brain, I thought happily. My prince charming was here.


	3. 3 Goode is Good

**Soooo for the most part, I will be updating two chapters at once (one from Annabeth's POV, the other from Percy's). Some POV's will be different, like the next chapter is mostly from Percy's POV, but with a little bit of Annabeth's. And also, this story is not as planned out as some of my other's so you might notice the style is a little different, like this chapter is a little more light-hearted and other's won't be. Sorry about that. Anyways, PLEASE READ AND REVIEW! It's what keeps me motivated!Thanks!**

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**Annabeth**

It was kind of an oxymoron that a child of Athena didn't think before she did something. I finally pushed Percy away when I realized the entire school was staring at us. I heard murmurs and whispers throughout the entire hallway, but barely registered the sounds. Lauren finally broke the awkward silence when she said to us, "So I guess you guys know each other." Percy said loud enough so everybody could hear, but mostly towards his friends, "This is Annabeth. She's my girlfriend," He looked at me. "Annabeth, this is Olivia, Chris, Gavin, Logan, Sean," he paused "and you already know Lauren. Amber has first period off so she's not here today." I saw a dark haired girl with freckles, a Korean guy with glasses, a boy with freckles and spiked up brown hair, and a boy with floppy brown hair and braces. Sean, I noticed had piercing blue eyes, blond hair, a motorcycle jacket on, and a camera with him. He reminded me of Thalia.

They all looked different, but one thing was similar about all of them; they all looked at me with intrigue. Logan said to Percy, "So she's actually real..."

"Duh," Percy retorted.

After a moment, Logan pretended to speculate to himself, but meant for Percy to hear, "How'd you get a girl like that?"

He responded with a, "Because I'm awesome," and Logan laughed. I punched Percy in the shoulder.

Percy pulled me away from his friends (who had quickly gotten used to the fact we were dating) and the rest of the staring school, and brought me outside. He pushed me against the wall and tried to kiss me again, but I reluctantly pushed him off. "Not now," I barely managed to choke out, even though I totally wanted him to. I wrapped my arms around his sturdy frame again, though. "Lemme see your schedule," I told him. We sat against the wall, both saying our classes out loud. I was disappointed to find that we only had three classes and lunch together: homeroom, English (ugh), and history. We got to our feet and went to homeroom. Once inside, we just got to hang out for about 15 minutes, but I soon realized almost the whole class was talking about the most popular boy in school. Lauren greeted me as I walked in, as did Logan, who I soon realized she was dating. Percy and I struggled through English, but he was being so annoying I moved a desk away from him as he grinned at me. He pecked me on the lips before I walked with Lauren to my math class and her science class.

As I walked into the classroom, I saw that kid Aiden grinning at me and wanting me to sit over by him and his group of jock friends. I gave him a little smile and sat as far away from him as possible. Pretty soon, I saw Sean walk in (I only recognized him because of his intense blue eyes) and he slid silently next to me. He smiled at me and I noticed he had short blond hair that was spiked in every direction and extremely long eyelashes. "Hi!" I said cheerfully. He looked down and then smiled like he wasn't used to girls looking at him and waved. I quickly realized he was deaf, not shy. He picked up his camera and began looking through the pictures. I tapped him on the shoulder, "Can I see?" Sean handed me the camera and I saw some of the best pictures I had ever seen. "I loved how you used the shadow in these and this one really brings out the train," He looked puzzled.

"Nothing," I waved it off. People usually find my comments annoying.

I looked through more photos and I paused, "You're an artist," I said in amazement. He smiled at me again and nodded with a smile. Then Ms. Blair walked in and we stopped talking. I briefly noticed Aiden and his gang glaring at me from across the classroom. By now I was sure he was not a friend.

I went to Latin which I had with Lauren and and who she introduced to me as Amber, the girl Percy was talking about earlier. She had fiery red, curly hair and freckles. She was wearing a loose white tanktop with shiny silver pieces at the top, with a bandeau, things I really loved on her and always wanted to wear, but never dared to.

Lauren said introduced me to Amber really loudly so the entire Latin class could hear, "This is Percy's girlfriend. Annabeth." I shot her a death glare and Lauren just grinned at me. When the teacher, Mr. Padilecki (An: heehee for those of you who know thats from Jared Padalecki if you catch my drift) walked in, the while class greeted him. I guess he was a well liked teacher. Latin wasn't a language I was as comfortable with as Greek, but I could understand it with some practice and wanted to learn as much as Incould, rather than just take a class I could ace with my eyes closed. I couldn't shake the feeling I might need it later either. Mr. Padilecki had long hair and a big smile. He was kind of hot in a messy kind of way. I introduced myself and began reading through the textbook to try and catch up.

Walking to gym class with Lauren and I found we were extremely similar. She only lived with her dad, who was a preacher, but she was really close with him. She talked about how she wanted to be a singer. She told me about her and Logan and about how Percy had defended her from this guys named Marcus and even got a black eye from it. We had only been friends for about 5 hours, but it seemed like we had known each other for years. Even the classes we were taking were the same and our schedules were nearly exact. I complained to Lauren about having to change into PE clothes and walked out of the locker room. Aiden was back to smiling at me, but I knew it was fake. Oh gods, I thought with disgust, he's walking towards me. I have to talk to him.

"Hey Annabeth,". He said to me with a grin. Aiden threw his arm around me and we walked around the gym. I slapped his arm off. He put it back around me. I slapped it off again. "What do you want?" I snapped.

"Geez. No need to be so sassy Annie," He tried to sound cool.

"Don't call me Annie."

"Fine. So Annie, I was wondering if you and Percy," he said his name with a mixture of hesitation and disgust, "wanted to come to my party Friday night." Aiden said it confidently as if he were expecting me to drop to my knees in gratitude.

Why would he be inviting Percy and me to a party. Wait, did he just call me Annie again. This kid really needed a slap across the face.

"Nah," I responded and walked towards Lauren who was by Logan and Gavin. I didn't even bother to look at Aiden's horrified face, but I knew it was there. Hew as the second-most popular guy in school, and had probably never been rejected before. It was about time, I smiled. We were forced to run a mile, and then I dragged Lauren on the ropes course with me, which was easy compared to the course we had at Camp Half Blood. I felt someone following me around and staring at me. Aiden. I just ignored him.

When I walked out of the locker room with Lauren, Percy was waiting there and took my hand. I saw Lauren make a kissy face at me out of the corner of my eye. I rolled my eyes.


	4. 4 Son of the Sea God

**Sorry, this chapter's a little short. It looked longer on Google Docs. But there ya go!**

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**Percy**

Finally, it was time for lunch and Annabeth and I walked outside to meet our friends. There wasn't really a cafeteria at Goode; just the entrance hallway called "the bricks" and outside. Sometimes my friends and I drove to the bagel shop nearby, but today was sunny and beautiful, so we sat on the lawn. Annabeth seemed to be having a great time and had already become fairly close with Lauren. We had to tell the story of how we met about 5 times, and it was fun even though we had to omit some, okay, a lot, of details. I was happy that my friends seemed to like Annabeth a lot. Then I noticed Marcus approaching us. I stood up and looked at him with disgust. "What do you want?" I couldn't keep the threatening tone out of my voice.

Marcus turned toward Annabeth and said coolly, "I just wanted to see if Annabeth wanted to come to the party at Aiden's on Friday." I noticed he purposely excluded my name from the invitation. That part was clear, but Aiden, across the field, seemed to be smirking at Annabeth.

"No," I said firmly. I felt Annabeth come up beside me and lace my fingers in her own.

"Is that what you do? Make decisions for your girlfriend? Are you that controlling? Wouldn't she be better off without you?" He turned towards Annabeth, "You could do so much better than a jerk like him. I bet he treats you like dirt." I couldn't control my seething anger anymore. I let go of Annabeth's hand and the next thing I knew, I had punched something so hard that even my iron skin felt raw. Marcus was on the floor, his nose bleeding. "Don't," I kicked him in the gut, "Ever," Another kick. "Talk," Kick. A groan escaped Marcus "to," Kick. "Annabeth again," I growled.

"Percy!" She shouted in horror at me. I was in a sort of daze now. Oh shit. What have I done? The thought barely registered in my brain before I was dragged away. Annabeth had pulled me about 20 feet away from Marcus, who was now being helped up by Aiden and his friends. A little subconscious voice in the back of my head had told me to ease up a little, so he didn't seem to be too hurt. I hope I broke his ribs, though. Annabeth was shouting at me, "What are you thinking Percy?! What the hell am I going to tell your mom?!" She sounded distressed and I felt a little guilty, but honestly, I was barely paying attention to what was going on around me; I was still steaming with anger, but my brain was rifling through all my confusing thoughts, trying to make sense of all of them. I was deep in thought.

Before I had punched Marcus, I felt myself fuming, pent up anger rising, but usually, I could hold the anger back. This time I just exploded. The worst part is, I hadn't just punched Marcus because I was angry or because he had insulted me... I began wondering if he was right. If I was good enough for her. If I was even worthy of being with her. What if she could become something great, but I was holding her back? What if my worst fears were coming true? It was kind of ironic...I had defeated the Titan Lord, but now my biggest fear was not being good enough...I guess it makes sense. She's perfect. But he couldn't be right. He. Was. Wrong.

Some part of my brain registered that the whole school was focused on us. Annabeth was just looking at me helplessly. I stood there unmoving and glaring straight ahead, faced away from the crowd. My jaw was clenched and unmoving. Annabeth closed her eyes and took a deep breath. My mind still remained somewhere else. I relaxed a little as she wrapped her arms around me lightly and I tentatively lowered my head into her blonde curls, with my whole body still rigid and stiff, still shaking with rage. She lightly lifted my shirt up and slid her hand under it. Gently I felt her rubbing my back. My entire body shuddered as she ran her fingers over my Achilles spot. The whole school saw that, I panicked. Then, in an instant, the storm had passed and I was jolted back to reality. I sobbed silently into her, shaking. "Hey. It's okay," I heard her say softly. "We'll figure it out."

**Annabeth**

I saw his friends looking on at me in surprise. I guessed that usually nobody was able to calm Percy down. Ever. His encounters usually ended with him storming off in anger. That would explain why no one but me had tried to stop him. Percy was without a doubt, the Son of the Sea God. On bad days, he would cause total destruction. On good ones, he could create the best and happiest memories.

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**So? What'd you think? Should I continue? PLEASE READ AND REVIEW! IT MEANS A LOT! THANKS! **


	5. 5 Never Let You Go

**Soooo sorry this isn't really in the format I was using before; There are many more POV changes, but I hope you like it. I will try to update more often, but I have been working on this chapter a little every day. Unfortunately, I am only motivated to write at midnight :) Also, If you haven't heard _Skyscraper by Demi Levato_, go give it a listen. And _Let it Go_ is basically my jam. Ummm... I'll stop talking now. Enjoy! Oh just kidding. I knew I forgot something. PLEASE READ AND REVIEW!**

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**Percy**

My head was spinning. Why was my head spinning? Annabeth was holding most of my body weight up. I pulled back a little and studied her face. Annabeth still looked a little pissed off that I had punched Marcus. I felt her slip her car keys into my pocket. "I think you need to go home and calm down," she said to me. I nodded subconsciously.

As I walked away toward her silver Lexus, I heard a sharp voice call, "Percy Jackson!"

My head whipped around. Crap. It was Ms. Blair, my math teacher. _Okay. At least I had made sense of what was happening._ "Come with me," she said in a serious tone, and grabbed my by my arm. I looked at Annabeth with a help expression on my face. She looked at me with sympathy in her eyes, but she was looking at me like You asked for it.

After that, I had to sit in the office for forever, which was death on my ADHD brain. It was incredibly uncomfortable, because I couldn't force myself to sit still. Then, I had to talk with the principal, Mr. Lanier who was a big, mean looking African American guy. He politely dismissed Ms. Blair, who looked very disappointed. _Probably because she doesn't get to see me get punished_, I thought. During my conversation with the Mr. Lanier, I was bouncing up and down on my chair the whole time and felt crummy about my disrespectfulness, because despite his appearance, Mr/ Lanier was actually very nice. I explained my side of the story and he nodded understandingly. "Sorry Percy, but unfortunately I have to give you a two day suspension. It's policy." I nodded politely. I guess it was reasonable.

I went to grab my backpack from my locker and saw Annabeth. She rushed over. "What happened?"

I told her in Greek, "Two day suspension."

Her eyes widened. "Your mom is going to kill me."

"Wasn't your fault," I mumbled. "See you at home."

I tapped Lauren on the shoulder as I passed her in the hallway, interrupting her conversation with Amber. "Could you give Annabeth a ride home? I'm sorta taking her car," I pleaded with my eyes.

"Yeah...yeah. Of course...Get some rest Percy."

**Annabeth**

The day went on after Percy left. I continued spending time with Percy's friends and getting to know them. Most of them were pretty quiet though. They had never seen Percy explode like that before. Everybody knew he was capable of it, but I suppose he had never actually done it. I guess it's a part of him though. He acts without thinking sometimes…one of the sucky things that come with having ADHD; sometimes you can't concentrate for long enough to fully think about what you're doing. Percy never pretended to tolerate bullying, either. I supposed there would be a time when he snapped like a rubber band.

Everytime I walked through the hallways, there was gossip about Percy and how he had beat up Marcus. The whole school stared at me as I walked by, pointing and whispering. I just kept my head high and ignored them. Aiden winked at me.

I found I loved my architecture teacher. She told us to just call her Lorelai. Her name matched her personality: Interesting, creative, and unique. Her long, dark hair tumbled down her shoulders and she had green eyes like Percy. She was very young, maybe about 25, pretty, and incredibly funny. Maybe it was because she was an addict...to coffee.

I walked into her class with Lauren, who sat down beside me. Immediately, Lorelai began talking with authority. "Welcome to Architecture. This is a college-level class, so I think it is reasonable that I will only accept high quality work from you all. In this class, I will open up your little tiny close-minded brains and maybe you'll see the world a little differently. I don't actually require a lot from you. All I ask is that you try."

I liked her already. Maybe this class would actually be fun.

"Today, I want you to just create a structure out of only straight lines." The class got to work.

I flipped through my sketchbook as Lorelai walked by, looking for an empty page. I stopped on a sketch of a temple I was trying to create and studied it for a while before I kept flipping. I hadn't realized that Lorelai was standing right over my shoulder. "Go back," she commanded. I turned my sketchbook back.  
"That's amazing," she commented almost to herself.

I smiled sheepishly. "It's Greek styled building."

"Can I see it?" Lorelai reached for the book and I handed it to her.

"Where did you learn this, Annabeth?" my architecture teacher asked in awe.

"Well, I've always loved architecture, but mostly...my summer camp. I learned a lot by watching my older cabin mates." I said proudly.

She nodded. "Ever heard of Rome?"

I raised my eyebrows. That was a weird question.

"Mix in some Roman architecture into it...add a dome, maybe a courtyard with some columns leading into it..." With that comment she walked away as I contemplated what she had just said. Maybe that would work... I smiled to myself. Lauren gave me a funny look and I grinned. This class would be fun!

History was interesting too...until Paul asked where Percy was. I whispered, "He went home," into his ear. Paul looked at me quizzically, but I pretended to not notice it. The class continued and Paul mentioned we would be learning about Mythology. Percy would be happy with that. The bell for dismissal rang and we filed out of Paul's classroom. I met Lauren at her locker and waited. We walked in the direction of her car, "That was some scene Percy caused at lunch today."

I nodded. "I think he feels bad about something, but I don't know what. He's never usually like this and normally I would blame it on ADHD, but honestly, I don't think that's it."

Lauren looked at me sympathetically. She started her blue Audi and drove out of school. "Let's go sing tonight. I know this great karaoke place in the Bronx," she said enthusiastically. "You could bring Percy."

"I don't sing."

"Come on!" she encouraged. "You'd be great."

"You're such a girl."

"I'll pick you and your hot boyfriend up at 6!" Lauren's soft blue eyes flickered with amusement.

I rolled my eyes. Then Lauren asked curiously, "Is it true you and Percy live in the same apartment?"

"Not really. Same building, different rooms. Mine's right next to his though." Lauren suggestively raised her eyebrows at me.

"Nothing's actually happened. Not really at least."  
"Come on. Have you seen your boyfriend?"

"What?" I laughed.

"Nothing." She looked like she was about to burst with laughter. I rolled my eyes again and got out of the car.

"Thanks for the ride!" I shouted over my shoulder.

I rode up to the 10th floor of the apartment building and let myself into Percy's and Sally's apartment.

**Percy**

I didn't even hear when Annabeth opened the door to my apartment. As soon as I had gotten home, I jumped onto my bed, threw a pillow over my face and tried to think. Only when I heard the distinct squeak of my bed, did I know Annabeth was here. Gently, she pried the pillow off my face and I sat up, bending my knees and leaning against my headboard. Annabeth sat comfortably with her legs outstretched and crossed. She touched my leg and began tapping a rhythm on my thigh. There was silence. "So what's wrong Percy?" she finally blurted out.

"Nothing. I'm fine." I told her obstinately.

"Perce, you're obviously not fine." She paused, "Please tell me what's wrong."

_Ugh. Why was I being so melodramatic. I needed to fight some monsters to get my mind off of things._

"I was just trying to protect you."

Her face softened. Then Annabeth sighed. "I know you're trying to protect me and I love you for it, but I can take care of myself. Come on. You've seen me in monster fighting action." She smiled.

I ran my hand through my hair. "Monsters are so much easier sometimes. If they piss me off, I can just kill them. Or send them back to Tartarus, at least, which is almost the same thing. I wish it was the same for people."

Annabeth laughed. She raised her eyebrows, "Wait, I'm harder to deal with than a monster?" The next thing I knew, I was whacked with a pillow.

I just let her hit me and smiled.

Annabeth studied my face for a while, and I thought she was going to kiss me for a second. Then she blurted out, "Will you tell me the real reason you're upset?"

_How did this girl know me so well?_

She continued, "I know you know I can look out for myself and you always let me fight my own battles. You never let stupid insults get to you. Why did you react to what Marcus said?"

I affixed my eyes to a point on my blue wall. It suddenly became very interesting. Anything to not have to talk about this.

Annabeth continued, "Why do you let him get to you?" I bit my tongue and couldn't bring myself to look into her stormy gray eyes, which I knew were filled with defeat right now; But I couldn't let her know.

Annabeth just looked at me dejectedly. "I have to go meet Lauren. We're going to a karaoke bar. Wanna come with? You're invited."

I shook my head no. "Glad you're making friends Wise Girl. Enjoy your girl time." I smiled at her.

"Percy Jackson!" There was a shout from the kitchen that was unquestionably my mom.

Annabeth looked at me sympathetically and kissed me on the cheek. "Bye."

She walked into my room looking concerned. "I heard you got suspended."

I nodded slightly. I hated seeing that disappointed look on my mom's face.

"What happened?" she asked. I tried to keep the exasperation out of my face. Between my mom and Annabeth, it was like a 24/7 therapy session around here.

"I punched Marcus," I stated bluntly.

She let out a long sigh. "I'm going to guess it was probably related to Annabeth, and I admire you Percy, for defending her, but…" She faded out and took a deep breath. "I'm not going to ask you to tell me why you did what you did, and maybe it was something you needed to do. But Percy, you're growing up, and you're going to have to decide which battles are worth fighting, and which ones aren't. That's a decision you need to make for yourself. You can't just go picking fights with everyone. That's not how the world works. Sometimes you just need to hold back your anger..." She exhaled and looked at me with sympathy. "Don't let Annabeth go, Perce. She's something special."

_Believe me mom, I know. I know._

"There's cookies on the table if you want them."

I nodded. "Mom?" She turned around. "Thanks. For everything."

I saw her smile and then her hair whipped around and Sally Jackson walked into the room she shared with Paul.

**Annabeth**

I was in a short, gold dress when Lauren and I walked into the karaoke club. It was pretty cool considering I'd never been in one before. Lauren, who was wearing a flats and a sparkly top, looked over at me. "I come to sing here all the time."

"You sing a lot?"

"Yeah. It's fun. I think Logan's coming later."

"Sooo where's Percy?" Lauren asked curiously.

"What, do you want to hang with my boyfriend more than me now," I joked then answered. "I don't think he really wanted to come...Also he's a horrible singer." She laughed.

"Well tell him we're gonna miss him at school. Good thing swim season hasn't started or Coach Jon would kill him."

"Seriously?" I responded, surprised, "I thought you guys were all freaked out by him going all macho man on Marcus."

"Not really. I mean Marcus deserved it. We, well at least I thought he was gonna crack soon. I mean, Percy never actually got physical, but he's had a few close calls. Percy can take it, he's a tough guy- I mean have you seen his abs- but he gets messed with by Marcus, because he stands up against injustice...like a superhero. No one would dare touch him if he didn't stick up for his friends, and I know my friends feel bad about that."

I nodded. That sounded about right. "Could we talk about something other than my boyfriend's abs?" I said in jest, although also eager to change the subject.

The waiter brought fries and soda over.

"How about we go sing?" Lauren suggested.

I groaned.

"Come on blondie," Lauren teased as she pulled me out of my chair. I almost tripped and nearly ate it in the middle of the club. Lauren began laughing as she offered me a hand. I glared at her. Then I whacked her in the arm lightly.

"I don't understand how you and Percy can tolerate each other. You're both complete opposites," she commented.

I shrugged. "I don't know what to sing," I said nervously as we approached the DJ.

She snapped and happily replied, "Skyscraper."

"Ok."

I climbed on stage nervously. The bright lights blinded me, but that didn't stop me from hearing wolf whistles from the audience and also Lauren cheering me on. I've taken a knife covered in poison. How bad could this be? I started, gripping the mic so tightly my knuckles turned white.

_"Skies are crying, I am watching_

_Catching teardrops in my hands_

_Only silence, as it's ending_

_Like we never had a chance_

_Do you have to make me feel like_

_There's nothing left of me?_

_You can take everything I have_

_You can break everything I am_

_Like I'm made of glass_

_Like I'm made of paper_

_Go on and try to tear me down_

_I will be rising from the ground_

_Like a skyscraper, like a skyscraper."_

I felt myself relax a little and let loose. I didn't really register what I was singing and before I knew it, the song was over.

I heard Lauren shouting and smiling at me. "That wasn't half bad." Her eyebrows were raised in surprise. I went and sat down by the table, where Logan was now sitting.

"Hey Annabeth. That was great. I didn't know you could sing." Logan smiled warmly. He appeared to be a jerk to me when I saw his sunglasses around his neck and his flashy, flirty smile, but he was really nice. I guessed his family didn't have that much money, but he somehow was able to be amazing at both soccer and football. I saw what Lauren liked in him.

"Thanks. I didn't really think I could either. It was fun. You should come here with Percy next time. And try to get him to sing." I chuckled.

He smiled, "When pigs fly."

Lauren began singing Let it Go, beginning softly and getting stronger and more powerful with each breath. Her curly brown hair was falling out of her bun, but Lauren didn't seem to care. She had a beautiful voice.

_"Here I stand_

_And here I'll stay_

_Let the storm rage on_

_My power flurries through the air into the ground_

_My soul is spiraling in frozen fractals all around_

_And one thought crystallizes like an icy blast_

_I'm never going back,_

_The past is in the past_

_Let it go, let it go_

_And I'll rise like the break of dawn_

_Let it go, let it go_

_That perfect girl is gone_

_Here I stand_

_In the light of day_

_Let the storm rage on,_

_The cold never bothered me anyway"_

The entire club was cheering for her now. I didn't know she could sing. Logan looked at me as if to see what my expression was to Lauren's singing and then smiled proudly as if to say that's my girlfriend. Lauren ran off the stage out of breath. I looked at her in disbelief, "Oh my gods, that was amazing!"

"Gods?" she questioned and then said mockingly in a girly voice "Oh my gods, you are just like Percy."

Logan wrapped his arms around her and murmured something in Lauren's ear. Then he walked away. "Bye Annabeth," he called over his shoulder as he walked away.

I looked at Lauren with my eyebrows raised and a teasing grin.

"Whatever," she dismissed and walked to her car.

"I can't believe I've only been here for a day."

"I can. You're a pain in the butt. Me neither. All the girls at Goode wanna kill you for taking away their man though…" I was about to interrupt her when she continued. "Please continue to make them as jealous as humanly possible." I laughed. "Now, Annabeth, if you would, please get out of my car. I get to meet up with Logan." She wiggled her eyebrows excitedly. As I stepped out, she looked me in the eye as said, "You're good for Percy. Nobody is ever able to calm him down after he gets angry. I've never seen him so happy either."

"Thanks for watching out for him," I gave her a small smile and walked into my apartment.

Percy was sitting on my couch playing with his fingers. As soon as he saw me walk in he stood up. "Wow. You look great," he said a little shyly, "Why don't you wear that more often?" He gestured towards my dress. I shrugged. "You have a good time?"

"Yeah it was great. You shoulda come heard me sing, Seaweed Brain."

He just looked down and played with his fingers some more. Then he walked towards me and wrapped his arms around me. "I'm sorry, Annabeth."

"For what?" I said sympathetically. I wanted to hear what he had to say.

Percy took a deep breath. "I want to tell you the real reason. I wasn't trying to protect you." He smiled to himself. "I know you're perfectly capable of decimating anything you want to; I mean, you're Wise Girl." Percy paused for a while. "But when Marcus was saying all those things about how I'm not good enough for you, I started to think maybe he was right...And he couldn't be right and I refused to let him be."

"So you shut him up," I finished for him, tears in my eyes. I didn't know how to respond so I stood there gaping at him in disbelief. "Percy…" I began, but then he interrupted before I could say anything else.

"Annabeth, you're smart and beautiful and kind and amazing and perfect. I couldn't, in my wildest dreams imagine getting someone like you. No matter what I do, I will never deserve someone as amazing as you. And if we ever break up, it'll be because you get sick and tired of me, because I will never ever let you go."

All I could think to say was, "Don't sell yourself short, Percy." But I thought,_ you're just as amazing in your own way._

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**PLEASE REVIEW! I LOVE HEARING WHAT YOU THINK OF MY STORY! THANKS FOR READING! AND BY ALL MEANS, I WOULD LOVE TO HEAR SUGGESTIONS AS WELL.**


	6. 6 Birthday

Chapter 6- Birthday

**Hey! Sorry I haven't updated in a while. I have no excuses. I just haven't been writing. This is only like the 2nd rough draft so some italics haven't been added and there might be a few mistakes. Sorry about that, but this chapter took forever to edit because it was longer and I wanted to put it out there because I feel bad about not updating. Just wanted to let you know- I'm not really sure where this story is going yet, and I'm just telling the story of them in high school as it goes along. I have many ideas but this might be written more in a one-shot format, because as you've noticed each couple of chapters will have their own little conflicts, but will continue off each other. Also, throughout the chapters we will see more of Percy's friends and get to know them a little better. I will write in different POVs other than Percy and Annabeth's once the characters are a little more rounded, like Lauren. Maybe I'll throw in some outsider's point of views too! ****If you like the birthday clue thing, it was an idea that I got from a tv show called the Fosters and was extremely awesome so I wanted to put a variation on it. **

**Anyways, Thanks for reading! PLEASE REVIEW! I LOVE HEARING YOUR THOUGHTS!**

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**Annabeth**

During art class, Lorelai came up to me and invited me into her office, while the rest of the class was working on a project. I was confused. "Did I do something wrong?"

"No, of course not Annabeth," she replied kindly. "I just wanted to ask you something…I was wondering if you would agree to move to my art class, instead of taking architecture."

"Why?" She must think I suck at this if she was kicking me out.

"Annabeth, you're work is some of the best stuff I have seen in the 5 years I have been teaching. It's comparable to some professionals out there. All your measurements are perfect, and the engineering behind your designs is exceptional and you're only in high school. I think you could become one of the greatest architects of the century, but taking this architecture class is not going to help you do that."

I blushed a little, and then looked at her, puzzled. What did she mean?

"Tell me, Annabeth. What is architecture?"

"It's designing buildings," I replied simply.

She nodded. "Ok… Now how is architecture different from art?"

I thought for a moment. "Art is a form of self-expression, with no responsibility to anyone. Architecture can be art, but it does have a responsibility to people and its surroundings. Architecture requires math and science behind it, as well as creativity."

"How are they the same?"

I furrowed my eyebrows. "I'm not sure."

She smiled. "Exactly."

I was perplexed. What was she not telling me? I hated not knowing. "What do you mean?"

She looked me in the eyes and spoke to me like I was an equal- not like all of my other teachers, who looked down on me and acted as if they always knew more. I was grateful for that. Lorelai said, "Have you ever seen a piece of art that has had a profound impact on you? That has made you understand something or see things from a new perspective?" I nodded and she continued, "That's what you need to do with your architecture. Correct me if I'm wrong, but the way I see it, you design with elegance and precision and the result is beautiful, but Annabeth, do you ever think about what makes them beautiful. You tell a story. Make someone feel something and see the history behind a building. Where it came from, how it got there, why it was built. It seems like there's no personality behind them, just calculated thought, like there's a god out there giving you the designs. The engineering pieces of the puzzle are there- engraved in that amazing brain of yours- that's a natural talent, but I want to see you pour your heart into your designs. Show yourself to the world. Be creative. It's okay to not be perfect. Like you said, architecture has to first be conscious of people, which limits what you can do with it and I know that, but let yourself show, Annabeth. Buildings should have history, even new ones. They should tell stories, and art can help that. I want you to just explore your creative side. It will bring your architecture even beyond the incredibly high standards you have already set. That's what will make things beautiful."

I looked at her in awe and surprise. "Ok." I said simply.

Eyes twinkling, she smiled with relief. "I forgot to ask you. Are you doing anything professionally right now?"

Just designing Mt. Olympus for the Gods, I thought. "Yeah. Actually, I'm doing this huge project for my mom right now, but if there's anything else..."

"I might take you up on that offer, if you pass my art class," She winked at me.

I walked towards the door of her office and stopped. I turned around, "Thank you."

"I have high expectations for you Ms. Chase," She smiled at me mischieviously.

As I sat back down at the table, Lauren looked at me funny. "Teacher's pet," she teased. Then shouted, "I'm just kidding! So what's going on?"

"Apparently I'm taking art now," I replied.

**Lauren**

With Percy back in school now, things were nearly back to normal around here. The change was, I had to share my new best friend now. Annabeth was great; beautiful, smart, and actually interesting. Lately, we'd been talking about everything from boys to architecture. I was still taking the class and Annabeth helped me a lot. I think Lorelai suspected I'd had help from her because she always winked at me when I turned projects in. Also, I loved seeing Percy so much happier. He'd always been nice and loyal, but having Annabeth around seemed to make him a lot less jittery. Unfortunately, I had noticed Aiden checking Annabeth out or flirting with her, especially when Percy wasn't around. Marcus was back at school with a broken nose and was keeping as far away from Percy as humanly possible. It was cute.

Anyways, the day dragged on as I watched the clock tick incessantly and move impossibly slow during every class. After an eternity, the day was over.

Annabeth and I ran down the hallways to watch Percy's swim practice. I noticed him whip off his shirt and I couldn't resist looking at Annabeth. She shook her head at me. "You can't deny he's hot. Look at his abs," I stated.

She laughed, "I'm not denying he's hot. He's a freakin model. I'm trying to ignore you checking out my boyfriend."

Annabeth widened her eyes in mock horror. I turned to see what she was looking at and felt an arm wrap around my shoulder. "Hey," I noticed his shaggy brown hair and his hazel eyes before I realized who it was. Logan. "So what's this about you checking out Percy?"

"Nothing," I giggled and Annabeth was trying not to crack up.

"Suuure," he teased, pecked me on the lips, and I rested my head on his shoulder. "Just came by to let you know I have soccer later today."

**Annabeth**

(A/N 2 days before Annabeth's birthday)

Getting ready for school this morning was just like any other day; shower, get dressed, brush teeth, pack backpack, find a chocolate bunny, go to Percy's for breakfast… Wait. I grabbed the pink tinfoil covered chocolate bunny out of my backpack and examined it closer. What the heck? There was a pink notecard tied to it with a big simple word on it-JUST. Okaay then. Whatever that means. I tossed it back into my backpack, and went over to Percy's. We drove to school together like we did everyday, and I momentarily forgot about the little surprise. Then, when I opened my locker, there was a little gift bag with bath and body works lotion inside and tied to it was another notecard- SOME. I am so confused. Was this some kind of joke? Maybe it was some guy's way of hitting on me. Whatever. I put the bag in my backpack and shut my locker. I looked over to my left. Percy had already gone to homeroom.

Art class second period was a change, and even though I don't usually love change, it was fun, especially because of Lorelai. She was different teaching art, though: I received much less attention, but I supposed that was because she wanted me to learn by myself. No matter how hard it got, that would be something I cherished. Our next assignment was to paint a memory. I decided to do the Titan War. But how in the Hades could I do that? I sucked at painting, so I began sketching a rough draft, hoping that would help. It was going to be Percy and I on a horse (because in the mortal world, pegasi obviously couldn't be a part of memories).

That night when I got home, I didn't even have the energy to go next door so I just crashed in Percy's bed. I hated to admit it, but I loved wrapping myself up in his blanket and breathing his oceany scent in. Percy was sitting up when I woke up and my head was on his chest. He was playing with my hair absent-mindedly. I looked over at the clock and leaped out of bed, at the same time scaring the crap out of Percy. "Percy, we're gonna be late! Why didn't you wake me up?"

He looked a little scared as he frantically pulled his shirt over his head. "Sorry! I was just enjoying the moment. I guess I didn't notice," he said sheepishly.

I sighed loudly and rushed over to my apartment next door, while shouting around my shoulder, "Meet me downstairs in 10 minutes! Bring me a bagel!"

**Lauren**

i noticed Annabeth was 10 minutes late to homeroom today. That's a little unusual… I had thought, but I almost cracked up when she told me that it was because Percy hadn't woken her up. "That's so cute though," I responded. She just sighed.

"What's that?" I asked her in Latin as a Hershey's bar with notecard on it fell out. Annabeth looked at it in surprise. Then she mumbled something. "Sorry what did you say?"

"I have no idea what it is. Some sort of clue or something." The notecard had a single word on it. ME. "I think they're trying to tell me something." Annabeth looked completely puzzled, with an expression on her face I rarely saw.

During lunch, Annabeth and I ate outside at a picnic table. Everyone else had gone to Joe's Bagels for some reason and Annabeth and I just wanted to talk, so we opted to stay here. A little blond boy, probably about 12 approached us timidly. "Is one of you Annabeth?" He asked gathering up his courage. My friend nodded. "Then these are for you," he stated happily as he set the tray down. On the tray were two chocolate cupcakes with two words written on them. TO and AND.

I looked over at my friend. At least Annabeth looked less confused now. "What are those for?" I questioned.

"I don't know."

She smiled a little shyly at me and then said, "Well my birthday is kind of tomorrow."

"Ok. Well how does cupcake delivery boy know before me!" I responded jokingly.

"Well... when I was born, the date got mixed up on my birth certificate, and when I left my house, only my dad and I knew my real birthday so it was kind of a special secret between us. Then, I think he forgot about it so now only Percy and I know about my secret birthday."

I nodded, glad that she trusted me to tell. "What does it mean? Can we eat them?"

"Wait. I think it's like birthday breadcrumbs or something. There's some sort of message," Annabeth replied uncertainly.

I took out my phone, snapped a picture of the two cupcakes and looked at Annabeth triumphantly. "Now can we eat them?" Without waiting for an answer, I took 'and' and ate it. Annabeth just looked at me, amused.

I was dragged to her apartment after school. Why was this the first time I was going to her apartment? We'd been friends for like a month. I found out the answer when I walked in. Annabeth's apartment was a surprising mess. There was paper and pencils everywhere and blueprints scattered around. Her clothes were on her bed in a pile. "This is what the great Annabeth's room looks like, huh?"

She smiled. "This is basically what my cabin looks like at camp. Sorry."

"Did you find anymore clues?"

"I don't think so. I looked all over the school. Nothing."

I noticed one on her shelf. "There's one." It was the word BE tied to a little wooden duck. "Ugh, none of these make sense."

"I don't see anymore ducks, Annabeth."

She scoured around the shelf until she pulled out a swirly rainbow lollipop the size of my face-WERE. "Look for candy!" she said excitedly.

Looking at the higher shelves, I saw one. "Got one!" It was THAT'S on a bag of jellybeans. We were now tossing all of them onto her countertop. At the same time, Annabeth's blonde hair whipped around as she threw a bag of caramel on the counter- HERE. A huge chocolate kiss- AND, Skittles- THINGS, Gummy bears- MEANT, gingerbread man- YOU, lifesavers- FOREVER. We were still frantically searching for them, until Annabeth said, "I think that's it." "This is sorta fun!" I proclaimed. I opened up the picture of the cupcakes and put my phone on the counter while Annabeth got out the three clues she'd gotten before.

"Now, we just need to figure out what it says." She cleared off the counter and we had 14 clues.

"Maybe it's THAT'S THINGS JUST TO YOU BE AND FOREVER WERE ME AND MEANT SOME HERE."

"I don't think that's it," Annabeth replied with a duh expression. "Alright then…Wanna stay for dinner?"

"You're making dinner? There's no food in here. Unless you're planning to eat your clues." I raised my eyebrows.

"No. Sally is."

"Sally?"

"Percy's mom."

"Ahhh ok. Sure. My parents should be okay with it. It's Friday."

We knocked on the door to Percy's apartment and Sally opened the door. "Hi girls!"

"Is it ok if Lauren stays for dinner?"

"Yeah it's fine. Come on in. Percy's in his room."

**Annabeth**

I tapped on the door to Percy's room and he smiled. "Just in time. I need help with math," he grinned. "Oh hi Lauren!" He saw her in the living room. I went over to Lauren and asked her for a second with Percy and then bounded back into his room and jumped onto the bed. I questioned him excitedly. "I found 14 clues are there more?!"

"I don't know what you're talking about," he replied nonchalantly.

"At least tell me if there are 16," I pleaded.

"Maybe...Did you figure out what it says yet?" Percy questioned enthusiastically.

"Nooo. What does it say?"

"What does what say?"

"The puzzle." I groaned.

"What puzzle." I would never get it out of him.

"You just admitted-"

He cut me off. "I admit nothing," Percy replied stubbornly and with a teasing look in his eyes . I glared at him, but relented, knowing I would never get it out of him. He swung his legs off the bed and went to join Sally, Paul, and Lauren, effectively ending our conversation. I had to give him credit; he could keep a secret. Now my feelings were ambivalent- torn between wanting to kiss him and wanting to strangle the message out of him. Deep down, I guess I didn't really want to know until it was time though. I was just so damn curious.

**Percy**

During dinner I checked my phone, making sure everyone knew the plan. I had made sure everyone knew about the plan at Joe's Bagel shop at school. Now I had to let Lauren in on it. "I have to go to the bathroom," I stated and as I was walking away mouthed at Lauren Check your phone and texted her the plan. When I came back, :auren was grinning at me.

**Annabeth**

I should've known when I went to bed though, my peaceful sleep would be interrupted by a screaming Seaweed Brain.

The next morning I awoke to Percy in my apartment on top of me shouting, "WAKE UP! GET UP! GET UP! GET UP! IT'S YOU'RE BIRTHDAY!"

I couldn't resist the grin creeping onto my face as I groggily sat up, rubbing my eyes. "So today you decide wake me up Seaweed Brain," I joked.

"Of course. It's your birthday," he replied in a duh tone. He pulled out a small rectangular package wrapped in blue wrapping paper. On it was written Wise Girl.

"Oh my gods, more clues? Or is it like a bomb I have to diffuse."

Percy just chuckled as I opened it. It was a book- a Winnie the Pooh book. I smiled at it, tears beginning to form. My dad used to read it to me all the time when I was little. As I opened the front cover, there was a yellow notecard taped to it, TOGETHER. And a page bookmarked with a neon post it. I flipped to the page and saw the quote. Here together. Friends forever. Some things were just meant to be, and that's you and me. That was the message.

He looked at me sweetly. "You mentioned it a while ago and I managed to get your dad to send it to me," he smiled sheepishly.

I just hugged him and smiled, tears forming again. "Happy birthday Wise Girl," he whispered in my ear. "Wait friends? I thought you were my boyfriend."

"We're friends first, right. Best friends." I couldn't resist smiling when he said this.

I pulled away. "Wait. I never got FRIENDS."

He grinned. "That's next door." Percy gave me a hand and pulled me out of bed in my pajamas and messy hair. He unlocked the door to his apartment and practically pushed me in. "SURPRISE!" All of my friends appeared, including everyone from camp.

I hugged Thalia really fast and ran back over to Percy who was grinning at me. "Wait. You told everyone about my secret birthday?"

"We've got the greatest friends and family ever, and we're happy. We don't need to keep secrets anymore," Percy replied simply.

All I could do was smile at him. He was right. I was wrong. And for once I was glad.

I noticed the frying pan and the pancakes out on the counter. "Did you make pancakes Percy Jackson?" I asked incredulously.

He pursed his lips, eyes shining with mischief and chuckled. "I burnt pancakes," he stated with a poker face. "My mom made these. Do you even know me Annabeth Chase? All I do for you is stand around and look hot."

"My boyfriend is much hotter. I mean, and he plans awesome birthday surprises, and he's nice, and he's perfect, and did I mention hot. I think he's waaay better than you Percy Jackson," I teased him.

Percy leaned in to kiss me and believe me when I say it was a looonng kiss.

"What was that for?" I asked when we finally broke apart.

"Because I can," he smiled with his sea green eyes glimmering.

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**If you can't tell, I sort of love cheesy endings, but I'm trying not to make it OOC. Please tell me if I am. I will probably continue the birthday thing into the next chapter because I want to have Thalia! Thanks for reading this far and I would love to hear your thoughts on it! Suggestions?**


	7. 7 Zoetrope

**Yeah. Yeah. I know. It's really short. Sue me. LOL. JK. DON'T. It's a little fluffy, but don't worry. LOTSO STUFF IS COMING UP! PLEASE DO ME A FLAVOR AND REVIEW! THANKS FRIENDS! 3**

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**Annabeth**

That night, Percy took me to dinner out a this fancy steak place overlooking the harbor. It wasn't cheesy or overly romantic. We just talked. I told him about me taking art and Percy just flashed a crooked smile at me. "Hey. Thanks," I said, with my eyes sparkling.

"For what? Oh wait, I know. For being your totally awesome boyfriend," he said hotly.

I couldn't help but smile. "Yeah," I had to agree with him.

After that, I insisted on paying for the meal and I forced Percy to take my card. Surprisingly, he relented rather easily and handed the waiter the check.

"Here you go," Percy said triumphantly as he handed me back my American Express card. I realized he'd given the waiter his credit card instead. His eyes shone as he'd realized he'd won and said, "Happy 16th Annabeth."

I spent Sunday painting my memory for art class and made a complete mess of my apartment. Percy came to see what all the fuss was about and wiped a streak of orange paint on my face. Needless to say, it was all in vain because when we revealed our paintings, Lorelai had nodded at everyone else's paintings and looked at me in confusion and promptly said, "What's this supposed to mean? How is this supposed to make me feel?"

"How confused and worried I was," I answered with a questioning tone.

"Well, the only thing it's making me feel is annoyed at how little you tried."

"I just started taking this class. I'm new at this," I protested.

"And that sucks. And I'm sorry about that. But you're an artist, and an artist figures it out. I'll give you till Thursday to redo it."

I groaned in confusion and frustration. Olivia came up to me and said, "Don't argue with her, it's not worth it," and smiled in sympathy. "Need help? Never mind. That's not a question. You need help. Are you free tonight?"

"Ummmm yeah, I guess. Where are we going?"

"We'll go after school," she said happily. "It was actually Sean's idea. He's taking photography not art, but he found the place. I think he'd want to come." She bounded away confidently with her carefree attitude.

By the time school ended, I was dying to know where we were going. I told Percy I would be back later and gave him a kiss. He had a swim meet with Manhattan High School today anyways and just shrugged. I ran out to meet Olivia in her car, and only noticed her when her dark, messy hair caught my eye. She grinned when she saw me and beckoned for me to get in. I squinted at the motorcycle in front of me. "Wait, is that Sean?"

"Yup," she responded casually.

"That's a sweet bike," was all I could say.

"Let's go!" She held a thumbs up so Sean could see, and he revved his engine and rode off, with us on his tail.

"So where are we going?" I finally asked when we were in the car.

"You'll see," She didn't give in. Ugh apparently it was 'keep secrets from Annabeth week'.

"Why are we driving away from the city?"

"You'll see." I was beginning to think this was some kind of kidnapping or something.

After about half an hour, Olivia stopped the car in a large, empty field with a huge tent. Sean was already dismounting. She grinned, and it looked like even more freckles had appeared on her face. Sean smiled too. I noticed he had his camera around his neck. He held open the side of the tent as Olivia and I ducked and walked through. Inside was what looked like an abandoned small town. There were mini shops and bakeries and restaurants with faded neon signs everywhere. "Did we just walk into another dimension?" I asked in awe.

"Wait. So why did you bring me here?"

Sean just shrugged, flashed his blue eyes and began signing. Olivia furrowed her eyebrows and explaining to me what he was saying. "Well, this place is supposed to resembles Las Vegas. There was this really rich man who met his wife in Vegas. She was a showgirl and he was a bartender, and when they got married they moved to New York. Then, as they got older, the wife got really sick…and started forgetting who he was. So the man created this place...So she could remember him."

I was completely stumped and just stared at Sean. "So what happened?"

He signed something and smirked. Olivia just looked amused. "He said, 'that's for you to figure out.' " My eyes flickered between them both and I looked around for a moment. Finally it hit me.

"My assignment is to paint a memory. Who says it has to be my memory?" I said slowly, thinking about every word as it came out. I looked at my friends. Sean's eyes sparkled and Olivia gave me thumbs up, letting me know I was right. "You my friend, are going to be an amazing artist," Olivia said to me happily.

Sean signed something to her and Olivia responded by speaking and signing at the same time, "I can't. I have a swim meet. I already missed today. Coach Jon is already pissed. Ask her yourself."

Sean typed something into his phone and smoothly glided over to me. His screen read, 'I can help you work on it tomorrow, if you want. Olivia can't make it though.'

"Sure," I grinned. At least art was fun. And I was becoming closer with everybody.

Surprisingly, Percy was amazingly ok with me hanging out with Sean alone. I guess he trusted his friend. He just sat in his room eating chips and watching tv. The entire afternoon was spent creating the thing, and Sean intricately showed me how. I couldn't believe he had thought of it. Normally, I would be a little miffed that I hadn't thought of it myself, but there was no way I could've done this on my own.

On Thursday, I strided into art class proudly. Lorelai looked what I had set on the table and gave me a confused look. It was a plastic circle with slits in it. On the outside were pictures of the place we had saw inside the tent and on the inside were the pictures of the wife dancing, because she had been a Vegas showgirl.

"It's called a zoetrope. You spin it and the images move," I explained.

"But why?"

"Well I guess I just liked that the outside is Vegas… I know it seems sort of generic, but inside every landscape there are these people with these profound memories of what the places meant to them," I answered, wondering whether she approved or not.

"So the pictures of this showgirl, that's the husband's memory?"

"Yeah."

"But why did you make a zoetrope? Why choose to do it like this?" she kept questioning.

I thought about my answer for a second. "I know you said to paint, but I really wanted movement. I wanted her to come alive because..."

I paused and thought for a second, "Because the most powerful memories aren't flat or linear. At least, they aren't for me. The moments that I replay over and over again are are like this." I spun the zoetrope, smoothly.

"They they spin and spin and sometimes they make you dizzy. Or at least, the good ones do." I looked at her face, looking for approval. There was a long silence.

Finally she said to me, "Congratulations. You figured out a way to make art instead of excuses," and smiled. For some reason, Lorelai reminded me of Athena. She made challenging things fun, and forced me to learn from them.

During Gym today, Aiden kept continually pestering to come to his party. Lauren and Gavin continually shook their heads no, in exasperation. Finally, after ignoring him for days, I relented, "Fine. I'll come with Percy." I emphasized with Percy.

"Cool!"

"Can I ask you a question Aiden? I'm going to. Why do you keep flirting with me?"

He gave a shy smile, "Because you're hot."

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. "And for a moment there, I thought you were going to say something intelligent."

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**PLEASE READ AND REVIEW! THIS IS A LITTLE FLUFF BALL, BUT THERE IS LOTS COMING UP! REVIEW! THANKS! 3 I'M A LITTLE HYPED UP ON SUGAR TODAY HENCE THE ALL CAPS!**


	8. 8 Two Sides to Everything

**Uhhhh... I think this chapter is a little short. I was debating whether to post it or not, because it might be a little OOC. Reviews are also so fun to get and truly motivate me to write sooo much so thanks for all of those. I would love more motivation, so READ AND REVIEW! :)**

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**Annabeth**

Aiden's party marked the start of Spring Break. His house was a small mansion. There were a hundred fancy paintings, and high ceilings, and fancy chandeliers. It took a lot of convincing to get Percy to come with me, but finally he relented. The party was actually pretty cool. Despite the beer cups everywhere, everyone was enjoying themselves, and there was a lot of people, so it would be easier to avoid Marcus and the football team. Lights were flashing and for some reason, I loved the music. Percy just gripped my hand tightly, after he noticed Aiden wink at me and a couple of guys wolf whistle.

I saw him with this girl, Brianna from Manhattan. I didn't know if she was nice or not, but Aiden seemed to be in a bad mood. "Wanna grab a drink?" Brianna asked.

"No," Aiden replied gloomily.  
"Wanna dance?"

"No," This time Aiden said it in an exasperated tone.

"Wanna go make out?"

Aiden shrugged. "Sure."

I rolled my eyes as I overheard their conversation. Percy beside me, abruptly said, "I need a drink," as he pulled me along with him. Percy filled a little red cup halfway with pale liquid and dumped it into his mouth. I was appalled, but intrigued at the same time. Sure, Percy had always been a bad boy, but I had never seen him drink. For the first time in my life I wondered what alcohol tasted like. He studied my expression for a little bit, then crossed his legs, and set the red cup down. "Sorry. Just...Bad day." Percy looked around at the scene and then said, "Can we go now?"

"Why do you want to go so bad?" I said, probably a little harsher than I meant to.

"You're so busy here, which is great, but we never spend any time together. Not like before."

"It's my fault?" He was right, but I was enjoying the change of scene. Not that it was the right scene, but I never got to go to parties like these. It's supposedly part of the 'high school experience', right?

"No. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have brought it up. I'm being all needy again," he smirked, "I'm just gonna go. Call me when you need a ride ok?" Percy got up calmly, kissed me on the cheek, and headed out the door.

I was so internally frustrated with him now, but I couldn't even yell at him because he was so calm about it. After he drove away, I ran after him and shouted, "That's not what I meant!" angrily and went back inside. I drank the rest of Percy's beer, although there was only about a sip left.

When I reentered, Brianna was shouting at Aiden. "You're such an asshole!" she screamed and stormed out the door. Aiden just sulked off.

About half an hour later, I was wandering around and found Aiden in the piano room, playing solo. I admit, I kind of felt bad for him, even though he was a jerk. He looked sullen and sad. I sat down on the piano bench tried to make small talk with him. "Nice party," I began.

He scowled slightly at me, " You're just loving every minute of this aren't you," he said accusingly.

I softened my gaze. "No I'm not. I've got real sympathy. Percy just walked out on me, I guess."

There was a long silence.

"Well he's an idiot," he finally said. I was trying to detect any sarcasm in his tone, but as far as I could tell, he was totally and completely sincere. And I was surprised, expecting him to say something stupid again.

"So is Brianna," was the only thing I could think of to say.

"Hey. I don't really even like Marcus. The team's actually pretty nice. They're just afraid of him. Logan's not afraid of him and Marcus just tries to make him miserable. Sorry for being such an ass all the time."

"Apology accepted," I replied bluntly. All of a sudden he kissed me. On the lips. My mind was numb. "Um. I need to go," and I bolted out of the room, shaken. I called a cab. _How could I do that? Percy was perfect. Why did I feel so far apart from him? When did I become such a girl? And a high school girl, at that?_ Tears were streaming down my face by the time I got out of the cab. _Why was I so stupid? I should've known that would happen. Why was I such a girl? This was not me. Oh Gods, I need to tell Percy._

**Percy**

I just drove home carefully, my brain buzzing, wondering why Annabeth didn't follow after me. I guess you could say I was pitying myself. At least I had my blue cookies. Then all of a sudden my door opened. Annabeth was just standing in my doorway and looked like she had been crying. I immediately went to hug her. "Hey. What happened?"

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry," she just sobbed.

"Wait why?" I was puzzled and stopped hugging her so I could look her in the eye.

"Aiden kissed me."

My ADHD brain was racing with questions, but my only coherent thought was, "I'm gonna kill him."

"No. Percy. Don't. I totally should've seen it coming. I felt bad for him, and sat down, and all of a sudden…" she trailed off. "I shouldn't have…"

I just stared at her blankly, afraid I would say something that would make her mad. There was a long pause.

"I'm just gonna go to bed now Perce. Please don't do anything reckless."

All I could do was nod and shut the door. I got into my bed and sighed. This was going to be a long spring break.

I was wondering what in the Hades had happened with Annabeth when I heard a knock on my door. It was midnight. _Who the heck could be there?_ I stuck my hand in my pocket making sure riptide was there and went to open it.

It was Aiden.

His eyes widened as soon as I opened the door and took a small step back. All I could do was stare and focus on not punching him. I barely noticed my clenched fists, which were shaking. His eyes were filled with fear as he stuttered," Sorry man, I didn't mean to I swear. I don't know what came over me. I didn't think. I mean Brianna and the party and and assholes and pretty girl…"

"Do you know how much willpower it's taking me not to punch you in the face Blondie?" I questioned. Aiden stumbled a little. I narrowed my eyes, "Are you drunk?"

"Nooo, what are you talking about, man," he stuttered.

What was I supposed to do? This guy just kissed- I don't even want to think about it- never mind. Forget that. I couldn't just leave him there. "Come here," I said with clenched teeth. "Shut up." I grabbed Aiden's arm, pulled him into my apartment, and shoved him in the direction of the couch. I threw a blanket towards him and went to bed.

I probably should have guessed what would've happened. My mom shook me awake. "Percy, who is that boy on the floor?"

I guess I mumbled something unintelligible because she shook me harder, "PERCY. Do you know that boy on the floor?" She spoke to me like I was five.

"Aiden. Annabeth. Don't let in. I shower tell her," so sleepy I was unable to speak coherently.

My mom sighed. "Apparently, I gave birth to Yoda," she mumbled to herself.

"Percy much cooler than Yoda," I said and fell back asleep.

When I finally dragged myself out of bed. Aiden was awake and drinking a cup of water my mom had given him. She left a note on the counter. In hastily scrawled handwriting, it read- Dear Yoda (smiley face), Went grocery shopping with Paul. Annabeth came by earlier. I told her you were still asleep and didn't want to be bothered. -Mom

As soon as I looked at him again I put my face in my hands, not even sure what to say to him. Aiden just looked at me dejectedly. At least he seemed sorry. He let out a puff of air. "Look Percy. I'm sorry. I wasn't," he stopped. "I didn't mean to. I was just pissed off at the world and I guess she was frustrated too. It just happened."

"I think you took advantage of her. She was feeling weak and vulnerable and you took advantage of that. And now she's over there," I pointed at the wall that separated my apartment from Annabeth's, " thinking that it was her fault," I almost shouted.

"No. It's not. It was all me and I'm trying to apologize. Percy. Just hear me out," he pleaded. "It just happened. I wasn't thinking. My girlfriend just broke up with me and Annabeth just happened to be there and we were alone and both feeling crappy, and it just…"

"What do you want me to say?... 'I forgive you. We can be best buddies.' " I said sarcastically. "You know what, Aiden? Thanks for apologizing and all, but honestly, it doesn't change the fact that you tried to make a move on her. Next time, please just stay away from my girlfriend."

Aiden looked at me sadly and trudged towards the door, and looked at me behind his shoulder as he walked out. "Thank you for letting me come in last night... even after what happened. I'm sorry I'm such an idiot."

"You're not. The friends you have are," I replied simply.

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**Although some of it may be OOC this was actually pretty fun to write, because I loved showing that even jerks have their reasons for doing things. TELL ME WHAT YOU THOUGHT IN THE REVIEWS!**


	9. 9 Popcorn and Blue Cookies

**Well I guess it's about time I updated. I won't bore you, but I figured it was about time for some fluff. Just so you know this is a really FLUFFLY chapter, but there is lots more stuff coming up! READ AND REVIEW PLEASE FRIENDS! 3**

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**Chris**

I pounded on Percy's door for the 5th time, and he still didn't answer. I just sat against the wall and played on my phone. Then, I noticed Annabeth walking briskly towards me and Gavin. She knit her eyebrows when she saw me. "Holding up the wall?" she looked amused.

"Nah, Percy's supposed to be here. Logan's heading over too."

"When was he supposed to be here?"

I looked at my phone. "10 minutes ago."

"Hmm he wasn't even awake when I left to go get groceries with his mom. I'll let you guys in," Annabeth said simply. "Tell him to come next door first when he gets back." She pulled out her keys and jammed one of them into Percy's door. Then she glared pointedly at Gavin, "Don't let Chris break anything."

"Hey! I'm not five," I replied indignantly and pushed the door open. Jumping on to the couch, I turned the tv on at the same time and laid down. Gavin proceeded to sit on my face. Annabeth stood in the doorway and looked amused. One win against Gavin at Super Smash Bros, and five minutes later, we heard the doorknob jiggle. Percy walked in with wet hair and a swimsuit on. As soon as he saw use, Percy's face filled with realization. "Oh crap! I forgot you guys were coming over. Sorry I had a long night."

"Annabeth tells you to go next door," Gavin told him.

Percy's eyes widened as he ran next door. "If I'm not back in 10 minutes call the police."

I just grinned at him and gave a thumbs up.

We (unintentionally) heard their entire conversation through the walls.

Percy- "I'm sorry I'm a douchebag."

Annabeth- "No honestly it was my fault Perce. I should've seen it coming."

Percy- "No I mean for leaving you at the party. I was being a jerk and well you have every right to be mad at me."  
Annabeth- "Whatever. Let's just forget about it. Move on. This is nothing."

Percy- "Ok Wise Girl. If you insist."

Percy calmly walked into the room acting as if nothing had happened. His dark hair was messy, so I supposed either Annabeth had beat the crap out of him or they had kissed. The latter was more likely. He grabbed a bowl of popcorn and came over to play Call of Duty with us. Of course, I was dominating. Gavin was miming throwing down his remote (after he had lost for the 3rd time in a row) when we heard a shout from next door. "Percy, where's my laptop?"

I looked at him quizzically when he shouted back. "I was using it yesterday. I don't know where it went."

Then there was a shout from upstairs that probably was something like, "Shut up! I'm trying to sleep."

Annabeth came over after that. Percy said, "I borrowed it yesterday. I mighta lost it?" He looked at her sheepishly.

The feisty blonde gave him a 'seriously?' look. Gavin and I just sat in the back eating popcorn like we were watching a play.

"Sorry, I won't come back til I've found it," Percy said with mock fear in his tone and ran dramatically out of the living room into his room.

I narrowed my eyes at Annabeth. "Did you know you're really, really hot?"

Percy ran in, making a big show, and holding out a hand in Annabeth's direction as he ran. When he stopped beside her, Percy said in an announcer's voice, "She's also really, really taken."

Annabeth tried to glare at him, but couldn't hide her smile. Then Percy put on a fake look of fear as he noticed her trying to hide her smile. He turned to her, "I am so so sorry. I'm just gonna go now."

When Percy returned to looking for the laptop Annabeth turned to me and said, "Let's see how hot I am when I kick your butt." She glanced towards the tv.

"Oh, you are so on."

"Oh look Logan's here," I said as soon as he knocked on the door, trying to draw attention away from the fact I had just lost horribly.

"Why do you have cleats on?" Gavin said beside me.

"Soccer game."

Annabeth was looking through the cabinets for something, opening and closing every drawer and cabinet. She turned around and brought out a ziploc bag of full blue cookies. She put a cookie in her mouth and said to me, "Let's play again."

"Oooh, I think you're gonna get beat?" Logan asked.

"She's a freakin boss. Let's see you play," I said.

Annabeth tossed him the fourth remote.

In the middle of the round Percy came out triumphantly with the laptop and set it one the counter. Then he grabbed a blue chocolate chip cookie and sat down around Annabeth, with her leaning against his chest and her sitting in between his legs. Without warning, she fired a shot towards my teammate and turned around to grab Percy's cookie and casually took a bite of his cookie. "I can get you another one, you know. They're five feet that way," Percy said teasingly.

Annabeth just ignored him, took another bite of cookie, and kept playing. Percy looked at Logan sympathetically and held out his hand, gesturing for Logan to hand him the remote. He promptly destroyed me and we all groaned jokingly as it was only him Annabeth left. The game went on for another 20 minutes until Percy killed her character just barely. Annabeth groaned, "Just so you know this is the first time he's won," then she turned towards Percy, "We'll continue this later."

He grinned, "Laptop's over there," and pointed. Annabeth just gave him a pretend smile and grabbed her computer, which for some reason had a weird triangle symbol on it. She sat down at Percy's countertop and started working on some sort of architecture thing. And we all just began talking. Everytime we would burst into laughter, Annabeth would look at us and throw a kernel of popcorn at someone, but we all knew she was smiling as she did it.

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